Scoop-board.



C. DEFREESE.

SCOOP BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. `I, 1916.

t Patented Sept. 5,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l E HARnEs-EPHEB'SE C. DEFHEESE.

SCOOP BOARD.

ARPLICATION FILED lFEB. I. 1916. 1,197,015. Patentedsept. 5,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WM5/Lawa.; @5w 630ml 7M CHARLES DEFBEESE, 0F LA FAYETTE, INDIANA.

SCOOP-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

` Patented sept. 5, raie.

Application filed February 7, 1916.' Serial No. 76,633.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES DEFREESE, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Fayette, in the county of Tippecanoe 4and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Scoop-Boards; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in end gate construction for wagons, the principal object being to provide a simply constructed scoop or shoveling board which can be quickly attached or removed from the wagon body. v

A further object is to' provide a scoop board which can be applied to the body without additional attaching devices being applied thereto.

A still further object is to provide a scoop which can be readily operated without being hinged to the body of the wagon to which it is applied.

With these and further objects in view, my invention resides inthe novelv features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will hereinafter be more particularly described and claimed and shown in the drawings wherein Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the rear end of a wagon body showing my improved scoop board applied thereto, said board being shown in full lines in lowered position, and in dotted lines in raised position; Fig. 2 is a rear end View of the wagon body with the scoop board in raised position; Fig. 3 is a central vertical longitudinal section through a portion of the wagon body and the scoop board; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the plane of the line 4 4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 Vis a transverse section through the scoop board showing more particularly its specific construction.

As shown in the several figures of the accom an inO drawin s m invention is a plied to a wagon body 1 of ordinary construction provided with the usual bottom 2 to which the side boards 3 are applied. A transverse brace bar 4 is secured to the under side of the bottom of the body at its rear end as is usual in devices of this character, the ends of said bar projecting beyond the side boards 3 as shown at 5. Up-

right cleats 6 and 7 are secured to the side boards adjacent their rear ends to provide channel-ways 8 in which the ordinary end gate slides, said gate however, being removed when my improved scoop board is applied. In the channels 8 are placed the upright supports 9 preferably faced with metal strips 10 as shown, these supports being held in position by the plates 11 which are secured by the bolts 12, said bolts passing through apertures in the side boards of the wagon. It is unnecessary to provide additional apertures for the bolts 12 because in a wagon of ordinary construction these apertures are'used for the end gate brace rod,V which rod is removed when my improved scoop board is applied. These upright supports 9 preferably project above the side boards 3 and aid in holding the supplemental side boards 3 in position should it be necessary to use the same, and they may be formed in several parts or as shown lin the drawings.

U-shaped members 13 are secured by the free ends of their arms 14 to the upright supports 9, one of these members being secure'd to each support preferably by rivets 15. Each of the members 13 is provided with an outstanding substantially cylindrical head 16 which is formed integrally with the crown portion thereof. Each of these heads is provided with a threaded bore 17 into which an eye-bolt 18 is screwed. These U-shaped members 13 are each secured to the inner side of the supports 9 and project rearwardly beyond the edges of the side board a slight distance and coperate with the end gateI or scoop board. when it isin raised position. This scoop board comprises a bottom 19 of a width substantially' equal to the distance between the side boards 3 of the wagon body, its lower edge being beveled off as shown at 20 and resting on the bottom 2 of the wagon body. This lower inner edge acts as a fulcrum for the scoop board when the same is moved from its lower to its raised position or vice versa. The bottom 19 is provided on its outer or lower face with a pair of wedge members 21 which taper from their inner toward their outer ends, one of these members being se; cured adjacent each side edge of the bottom and preferably flush-therewith, the inner end of the members terminating at points spacedr inwardly from the inner edge o f the4 bottom as shown. These wedge pieces 2l serve as spacing blocks to space the strips which form the flange members 22 away from the bottom 19, these flanges being secured to the outer side of the wedge members and extended beyond the side edges of the botto-m.

To the outer edges of the flanges 22 the side members 23 are secured, thereby forming a seat 24 on each side of the bottom 19 which receives the outer ends of the side boards 3 when the scoop board is in its raised position as shown in Fig. 1. The inner ends of the flange members 22 terminate flush with the inner ends of the wedge members 21 at points spaced from the fulcrum edge of the bottom'19 while the inner ends of the side members 23 preferably extend until they are flush with the said edge of the bottom. These parts of the scoop board are held together by means of brace pieces 30 and 30, each of which has a thickened central portion 33 whose longitudinal edge contacts with and is secured to the bottom 19, the ends engaging the inner edges of the wedge and flange members 21 and 22. The outer end portions of the brace pieces are relatively thin as shown at 34 and underlie the flange members to support the same; the side members 23 also are engaged by these portions of the braces. Bolts 35 are extended through the portions 34 of the brace piece 30 and the flange members 22, one end of each of the same being flattened and secured at 36 to the side `members 23, while the other ends are threaded and extended beyond said brace piece to receive nuts 37. The bolts and nuts further serve to hold the catches 29, the purpose of which will be later set forth, to the brace 30. These side members 23 are also inclined from their inner toward their outer ends as shown. Their inner bottom edges are preferably notched as shown at 25 to receive the outer ends 5 of the brace bar 4 when the scoop board is in its lowered position, said side members 23 resting upon said brace bar. One edge of each of the notches 25 is flush with the inner end of said flange members while the other edge is Hush with the bottom of said seats 24.

By providing the wedge members 21, the fulcrum edge of the bottom 19 is maintained in close contact with the bottom of the wagon body 1 throughout the entire extent of the movement of the scoop board. In this manner also the ends of the flanges 22 are enabled to engage the ends of the side bars of the wagon to maintain a tight fit at all times, but the principal advantage of these wedge members is to allow the scoop board to be readily moved from one position to another without hinging the same to the body of the wagon.

It will be seen from the several figures of the drawings that when the scoop board is in its raised position, the bottom 19 will have its side edges contacting with the side boards of the body on their inner surfaces while the side members of said board will engage the outer faces of the side boards 3, the ends of said side boards resting in the grooves 24. *When in the last mentioned position, the scoop board receives the heads 16 of the members 13 in the openings 26, the inner portions of which are enlarged to guide said heads thereinto. The heads of the eye bolts extend through said openings and are engaged by the hooks 27 on the ends of the retaining links 28, said links being adapted to spring under the catches 29 preferably secured to the brace member 30 on the outer side of the scoop board. hen each of the links 28 is snapped under these catches, said scoop board will be retained in its upright closed position until they are removed therefrom. The eye bolts 18 each have their opening nearer one side than the other, the distance between the opening and the adjacent side being'substantially the thickness of the head of the bolt. rlhis is to permit the hooked ends 27 of the links 28 to be readily disengaged from the bolts at will.

From the foregoing description of the construction of the device, the operation thereof will be readily understood without further discussion, and from this description it will be seen that I have invented an extremely simple scoop board which can be applied to a wagon body which will operate Without being hinged thereto as is necessary in most cases of this character.

'I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a wagon body, said body having a transverse brace bar at its rear end, the ends thereof projecting beyond the sides of said body, of a scoop board com- 10 5 prising a bottom of a width substantially equal to the distance between the side boards of said body, one end ofi said bottom contacting with the bottom of the wagon body to form a fulcrum for said scoop board, 110 Wedge members secured to one side of said scoop board bottom at the opposite edges thereof, said members terminating at apoint spaced from the inner fulerum edge thereof and tapering from this end to their opposite 115 ends, strips secured to said members and projecting beyond the outer edges thereof to form flange members, their inner ends terminating flush with the inner ends of said wedge members, side members disposed in 120 engagement with the flange members whereby seats are formed to receive the ends of the side boards when the scoop board is in raised position, the inner ends of the side members terminating adjacent the bottom of 125 said scoop board, the inner bottom edges of said side members being notched to receive the outer ends of said brace bar when in lowered position, one edge of said notches being flush with the inner edge of said Wedge 130 members, the other edge with the bottom of said seats, a brace piece having a thickened central portion disposed between the wedge and flange members and contacting therewith and the scoop board bottom, the end portions of said brace piece underlying the flange members, bolts extending through said end portions and the iange members, one end of each being iattened and secured to the side members, catches on the threaded ends of said bolt, nuts on said threaded ends, and means for engagement with said catches to retain the scoop board in closed position.

2. The combination with a wagon body, a support carried by each side board of said body, a U-shaped member secured by the free ends of its arms to each of said supports each of said members having a substantially cylindrical head integrally formed with and projecting from its crown, said heads each having a threaded bore extending therethrough, an eye bolt in each of said threaded bores, each of said eye bolts having its opening nearer one side than the other, the distance between the opening and the adjacent side being substantially the thickness of the head of the bolt, links, each having la hook on one end for detachable connection with one of the bolts, and enlarged eyes on the opposite ends of said links to retain said scoop board in open position, and catches carried by the scoop board, said linksbeing adapted to spring under said catches to retain the scoop board in closed position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES DEFREESE. Witnesses :v

THOMAS N. Ross, EMMOLYN PRITCHARD.

Copies 0,1' this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

